Under the blue tree...reading

Tales of adventure :)

B is for Bunnies

"Bunnies Holding Hands"

By the NanoBot, circa early 2011

"Alphabet Bunny"

Me, circa mid-2012

I'm still learning.

Some day I hope to catch up with the master,

my source of daily inspiration :)

Cover design - Book for teen girls

A few days ago I was asked to design a book cover - oh boy.

Hands up everybody who judges a book by its cover - I do!

I'll still give it a chance and read the blurb before I make up my mind,

but I do, do like nice covers on books.

Of course, if the only thing good about the book is its cover, 

you find out pretty quickly.

Anyway, no pressure, right - phew!

I made a sketch - editor loved it.

So far so good.

 

 

Then comes the coloring.

And everything goes nuts.

SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!

We haven't yet arrived at the final image

(editors and publishers consider a whole whack of factors

before deciding on a cover, so I understand)

but here's my rough drawings.

 

 

Can't reveal the tile yet,

but you can say it's a collection of notes about

"life, the Universe and everything", from the little of it that I read.

 

 

Notes from a mom to her teenage daughter.

Pretty cool, right?

Remember, these are just at the idea stage still...

I like these last two vintage-y looking ones best.

The one with the closed eyes makes the girl 

look like she's floating away on a dream...

We'll see what gets picked.

(They might all get canned - then we start all over again :))

A new book I'm working on, hmmm, 

maybe I should say A new book I'm supposed to be working on 

but don't seem to be making much headway with,

is a poem about a camel

and teaches kindness to animals

(always a topic dear to my heart).

I really wanted to paint these pics by hand, 

but this sample is a mixed input by (wo)man and machine,

and just this one image in its original size is more than 75 MB.

I think I broke my computer with it!

Anyways, it's been sent out for approval

(or otherwise!)

and I'll know soon whether or not it's a go.

Either way, this book will be filled with warm colors,

textures, borders - yum!

I've slacked away from blogging, again, 

overwhelmed with a whole bunch of things going on,

but

there's been...

See you soon, Blog!

A Lovely Day

Today, a soft and gentle rainy day...

A lovely day.

A new listing, and some paintings

Some time ago I posted about my acceptance into 

a textile art project sponsored by the Niagara Region.

We've had one meeting so far where we got to 

meet our fellow artists - there are twelve in all.

I was amazed at their education and experience in the field - 

was I the only one who had never taken courses in art?

And had only been working with fabric less than three years?

YIKES!

Each artist will be working on a panel about 2 feet x 4.5 feet - 

way bigger than anything I've ever done!

We'll be working from photographs,

translating the image into fabric.

They gave me the juiciest photo of all - really!!!

But more on that later.

Today I finished a necklace I've been working on 

for a while, sporadically :)

 Not only that, I also LISTED IT!!!!

It was so much fun to make,

and I feel tempted to keep it for myself,

but I'd really like to sell it too.

Also, today the NanoBot and I messed around 

with some paint and paper.

She made a lovely bluey-green abstract

which I can't find at the moment,

and which she gave me to keep 'as a present'.

So sweet.  I better find that painting!

I scanned some drawings of hers though:

 Aren't they the cutest?

 

She draws straight with pen - and doesn't like to color.

The text in the second picture was written by me - her request.

She'll be turning 5 in May, my sweet little munchkin :)

I hope her world is always filled with joy.

And I wish I could draw like her!

And for my dear friend Asma,

who has a big, blank purple wall,

I made this:

 Asma works in Toronto,

so I used torn images from a Toronto city guide,

and added parts of an abstract scribble 

that the NanoBot had decorated some note paper with - 

since she is with me all the time while I work,

I thought it fitting to add an element of her presence 

into my collages.

 I stamped on circles with a bottle, a marker cap, even my fingers.

The wall is a deep plummy purple, and my colors 

will complement that, I hope!

 

I wanted to make them all different,

yet similar enough to hang together.

Asma's other name is Emilia,

and I just happened to find a purple E!

Hope she likes them!

 

Hats And Salads

Weird mix?

Not when you think SUMMER!!!

OK, so we had another rogue snowfall just last week,

but Spring IS officially here,

which means Summer will be upon us

before you can say ICE CREAM!

I found a lovely cotton hat at the dollar store.

Yup, the dollar store.

It's a sweet unbleached linen look cotton,

but what hat can't use a little dressing up, right?

So ta-da!  Instant reincarnation!

Well, not so instant, actually,

but worth the effort, I think!

 

I thought I'd make a red and white flower,

but my hand went straight to the blues and greens.

 
I did put in a white layer too to add a little something :)

And a sequined applique to tie in the juiciness...

I loved the sorbet-like shades, but I hadn't made it for me.

Thankfully, the NanoBot critiqued it and found it wearable - whew!

And now on to the salad!

What looks like tiny birdseed,

grows a tail when cooked,

and is an ancient Inca Super Food to boot?

Why, quinoa, of course!

Quinoa, a complete protein, 

and a gluten-free food 

has been around for thousands of years.

The Incas valued it so much

that they considered it sacred.

 

So. Wash some quinoa 

- I took a bit of both red and white types - 

soak overnight, rinse and cook until tender, or until 

the quinoa is happy enough to sprout tails 

and be all soft and mushy.

Rinse off with cold water in a fine sieve,

and you're ready to add whatever you like!

I've tried it many different ways,

and it's mild enough to go with 

a bunch of different things.

You can even sub it for rice and oatmeal!

 
For this salad I used cherry tomatoes, carrots, 

chickpeas, cucumber, apples and parsley

all dressed in lemon juice and olive oil.

Salt and pepper and crumbled feta and a short sojourn

in the fridge to meld the flavors made it delectable.

 You could add cooked meat to this and make it a meal.

Now put on your summer hat and enjoy

this cool treat, will you?

And if you make it some other way, do share!

My favorite thing about Spring

We're having weird weather!

Spring came in, turned into Summer (!!!!), 

Spring went back out, and it became cold...again.

And now it looks like Spring is on it's way back in one more time. 

Flowers showed up a few days ago, 

and little leaves are starting to sprout.

I love shiny new fairy leaves -they're so sweet.

I made this a while ago,

but this is a good time to share it!

Fiddle around a little in Illustrator

when you have leaves on your mind,

and you get  this!

Illustrator is not a program I use much,

but I think I should do it more justice!

I could probably spice up the illo,

but I'm liking the clean, spare look.

Leaves really are my favorite thing about Spring,

well, apart from those magnolias, cherry blossoms, 

and crab apple tress in full bloom...ahhhh.

What's your favorite thing about Spring?

Niagara Region textile and mixed-media project - I'm in!!!

The Niagara Region Textile and Mixed-Media Project - 

sounds yummy, doesn't it?

It's going to be a permanent exhibit for the region,

and I am one of the 14 artists working on it!

I'm so excited to be part of something like this - 

it's like being part of the history of Niagara - YAY!

So these are the three pieces I had submitted 

for the juried selection.  The actual piece I'll be 

working on will be about 2 feet by 5 feet - that's big!

They'll tell us exactly what it'll be in a few days.

I do know that it will be based on the Niagara Escarpment.

I thought it would be a good idea to show a mix of techniques...

This one is lots of fabric collage and hand-stitching...

 

 

This one has beading as the main focus...

And this one is all about playing with texture...

there's paint, machine-stitching, layering...

All three pieces are in frames and behind glass,

so it's not the best pics I took...

I'll find out more about the project soon - 

April 3 is the day!

WIP

My poor camel!

It has yet to see the light of day,

although I did make ONE drawing (see below).

This is my first ever camel!

Actually, it's not mine at all...

I looked at a drawing here, and another one here

and made a sketch.

Sort of to get the feel of drawing this strange humped creature.

My own camel will have to be...my own drawing, of course,

but Google is a great help in sticky situations!

Meanwhile, more fabric!

These pics are pretty awful, btw;

it looks much better in person.

I made the bird as a brooch, originally, 

but ended up using it here.

It's painted satin, cut out and edged with cord.

I added beads and embroidery on top - it's pretty sweet,

although you don't see the colors much in these pics.

I like how the right-sized button turned out to have 

Good Luck inscribed on it.

After all, a bird in the bush is worth several in the hand :)

Seeing camels in the woods

I'm not sure why, but every time I need to be working 

on a particular thing, I find it impossible 

to stay away from something else altogether!  

Right now, I'm working on a book about a camel, 

and I need to get my brain talking to my hand 

so that plausible-looking camels spurt forth 

on my sheet of paper, since camels have not been

 part of my repertoire of drawn creatures.  

But I HAD to take a break and design a logo instead 

(not something I've done before either) 

and then I HAD to take another break 

and work on some fabric and make this ring.  

Thinking of woodsy splendors here - 

do you spot a camel? :)

For some strange reason, 

once I have indulged in my little diversion,

I do my actual task BETTER!!!

Beats taking a coffee break any day :)

Sweets for the sweet

Not edible, but candy-colored!

Good enough to eat, right?

The multicolored ones with the beads 
sewn on outside the center

were the idea of my little NanoBot.

At four, she's already a better artist than I can ever be :)

Pin-brooches sewn at the back - 

wearable happy-ness :)